1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated network and consumer device communications systems involving devices with store and playback capability, and, in one embodiment, to telephone answering systems such as consumer telephone answering machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone answering systems (TASs) are currently present in over 50% of American households. These answering machines serve the purpose of recording incoming telephone messages received over a telephone network.
Many people routinely gather information useful in their daily lives, including weather forecasts, traffic reports, sports scores, stock market quotes, and lottery numbers. This information is often gathered by tuning in to a radio or television station at an appropriate time or by manually placing a call to a service bureau programmed with prerecorded messages.
The present invention is directed to improvements that enable consumer telephone answering systems to assist people in gathering and accessing information useful in their daily lives.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.